What is your definition of beauty?

My final drama practical is looming. Tomorrow is our dress rehearsal and as I am the director I somehow have to piece it all together...
What does this have to do with beauty? Quite a lot actually, as that is what the play is about!

I'm a larger than average lass, (not a size 14!) I do not have perfect skin, nor do I have luscious long legs, and yes, my boobs are slightly wonky! However, luckily for me, I'm not at all bothered by it all anymore!

Our play is basically about how the media controls the public's attitude to themselves:

Despite the phrase "Big is beautiful" those size 8 models are still classed as the pinnacle of beautyness.
Most celebrities are undergoing cosmetic surgery to keep them famous. Most of those who aren't, are frantically dieting.

But surely this doesn't apply to us lesser mortals?...
Newspapers tell stories of 14 year olds who are desperate to have "Boob jobs."
Fashion shops are now selling thongs for 6 year olds.
One in 100 women in the UK suffer with Anorexia Nervosa, and are starving themselves, sometimes to death.
A life size Barbie doll would have the dimensions of 34, 19, 36, be a size 4 dress, and 6ft tall!

It is sad, but our world, revolves around beauty.

Beauty, in my opinion, is two things:
Firstly, it is what other people perceive of someone. Beauty in this case evaluates looks against character. For example, if someone is slim and pretty, but have no passion or originality, they might be seen as not beautiful.

This definition is the beauty that is in everything created, not just attractiveness of a person. It includes the beauty of a shape, or a colour. The beauty of a sunset, or of a building. Beauty that can be appreciated as much by the feelings something or someone evokes, as by what they look like.

Secondly, it is how someone perceives themselves. If you do not feel beautiful, to yourself you will not be beautiful. This is where the problem comes…

People have the need to be beautiful; It gets them noticed. It gets them love. It gets them jobs. It gets them money! But rather than concentrating on self-confidence, (knowing that you are beautiful, no matter what other people think) people are trying everything to become BEAUTY.

The image of beauty is cast by those in the media, those who we watch everyday and are criticized for thier cellulite. We are told Jennifer Aniston is beautiful, therefore to be beautiful, we must look like Jennifer Aniston. This results in desperate measures to become the ideal shape… dieting, cosmetic surgery etc etc.

Beauty should be about who we are, not who we want to look like.
If it carries on the way it is going, it wont be long until we all look the same.